Our reflections in Johannesburg revealed that racial mixing is not experienced as a simple combination of two separate worlds, but as a complex and evolving identity shaped by history, geography, language and power. Rather than asking whether a mixed-race person belongs to one side or another, the discussion suggests that “mixed race” may itself be a distinct perspective that challenges fixed categories of race and identity.

We questioned the relationship between mixed race, Coloured identity and Blackness, particularly within the South African context. These identities were described as fluid, contextual and deeply tied to colonial histories. The concept of how colourism shapes everyday experiences, producing tensions around being perceived as “too Black” or “not Black enough” also showed up as an important point of hierarchical nuances of this social construct. In this way, mixed-race identity becomes entangled with anti-Blackness, racism and xenophobia, especially Afro­phobia.

Click here for more Johannesburg pictures and the full workshop gallery.